What Is Age-Based Healthcare Rationing?

Age-based healthcare rationing is a concept that limits the allocation of medical resources based on the age of the patient population. This concept is rooted in the belief that the cost of care for older adults and the elderly is unsustainable due to the complexities of their prevalent medical conditions combined with the treatments and resources required to treat them. Preventative care is often perceived as less costly and more beneficial, whereas life-extending technology is significantly more expensive and provides less improvements to the quality of life for aging patients. 

Although age-based healthcare rationing has been a topic of discussion for decades, concerns about its use became increasingly prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many hospitals were directly affected by reductions in staff, resources, and intensive care beds, leading healthcare professionals to prioritize patient care according to the odds of survival. Since older adults and elderly patients are often exposed to ageism in healthcare, they may also have had limited access to some medical procedures due to the biases of their physicians. This led some patients to worry that they will not receive adequate care compared to younger patients. 

Moreover, there have been ongoing concerns about society’s ability to maintain and support future healthcare needs, especially as the baby boomer generation continues to age. Some projections suggest that by 2030, there will be around 74 million people over the age of 65. Others have indicated that by 2034, older adults will outnumber children under the age of 18. As the healthcare system continues to struggle in the aftermath of the pandemic, there is renewed interest in age-based healthcare rationing concerning the costs associated with the general provision of care, lifesaving treatments, and emerging life-extending treatments. 

While age-based healthcare rationing may have the potential to reduce costs attributed to these resources and extend the reach of preventative care to younger patient populations, it’s important to acknowledge that it’s a model that can create and exacerbate inequalities between age groups and sexes. Age-based healthcare rationing favors younger patients over the elderly, suggesting that access to resources should be based on age rather than each patient’s individual needs. Chronic conditions and wellness can vary greatly within age groups, so patients within older and elderly populations have their unique concerns. Similarly, since women live longer than men, they may be disproportionately affected by age-based healthcare rationing that would limit their access to life-extending care and other vital medical treatments. Therefore, careful considerations should be taken when implementing age-related policies to ensure that it does not perpetuate these disparities and potentially compromise the principles of ethical healthcare.

Sources

“How Elderly People Are Left Behind During Medical Care Rationing”. WBUR. https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/07/10/elderly-covid-19-health-care-rationing 

“Is ageism creeping into your care of older adults?”. American Medical Association. https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/population-care/ageism-creeping-your-care-older-adults 

“Aging population to hit U.S. economy like a ‘ton of bricks’ -U.S. commerce secretary”. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/aging-population-hit-us-economy-like-ton-bricks-us-commerce-secretary-2021-07-12/ 

“By 2030, All Baby Boomers Will Be Age 65 or Older”. United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/12/by-2030-all-baby-boomers-will-be-age-65-or-older.html 

“Why do women live longer than men?”. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/why-do-women-live-longer-than-men